Mt. Berry, Ga. - After only its second year of re-formation, the Shorter College men's cross country team will be heading to Kenosha, Wis. for Nationals after taking first place in the Region Championship at Berry College on Saturday morning.

Despite the cold conditions and the fog that covered the ground, the Hawks performed their best all season, as they had the top four runners in the day's contest. In dramatic fashion, Jerad Godsave and Martin Hernandez held hands as they crossed at nearly the same time. Hernandez took the top time by 44/100 of a second and captured the Region Runner of the Year award and a time of 26:26.50. Godsave's time was 26:26.94.

Following soon after were two more Hawks who also ran side-by-side to finish the race: Steven Rich and Josh Carson. Rich took third place with a time of 26:48.21 and Carson was less than half a second behind at 26:48.63.

Cyrus Wakaba rounded out the Hawks top five (14th - 27:33.70) to give Shorter a final score of 24, ahead of Berry College's second place 54 points and Lee University's 71 points.

Also winning an award at the meet was head coach Jay Stephenson, who was named the Region XIII Coach of the Year.

"I'm amazed at how well our guys ran today," said Stephenson. "No one on this team is willing to give up at any point. We've had some adversity this season, and we've learned that those times can be a blessing through the experience and growth that can come from them."

The next step for the Hawks will be Kenosha, Wis. on Nov. 17 for the NAIA National Championship.

"It's going to be an exciting trip for our team," added Stephenson. "I think our guys can perform well there and it will be a big learning experience for all of us."